THE 

PATRIOT’S REFEREE; 

CO^TAI>'IXG THE 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

THE 


ORIGINAL ARTICLES 


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OF 


!• f ■ :• 


CONFEDERATION, 


THE 


COMPILED BY 

K. N. C^YDK'VJ^LHO. 


Ucto gork: 

DROWN & RY’AN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 
,_-' 201 , 203 AXD 205 William Street. 

1861 . 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AM) 

WASJIIXGTON’S FAHEAVELL ADERESS. 

* ALE COMPLETE. 

AFFORDLNO TO EVERY ONE A MEANS OF REFERENCE 
AT ONCE RELIABLE AND CONVENIENT. 


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V. THE 


PATRIOT’S REFEREE; 

/ 

CONTAINING THE 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 

THE 

ORIGINAL ARTICLES 


CONFEDERATION, 

THE 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 

AND 

WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 

ALL COMPLETE. 

AFFORDING TO EVERY ONE A MEANS OF REFERENCE AT 
ONCE RELIABLE AND CONVENIENT. 




^0rk: . 

BROWN & RYAN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 
201 , 203 AND 205 WiixiAM Street. 


18 6 1 . 



JKiI3 

•Ca 

l?4.|a- . 



Entered according to Act of Congress by E. N. Carvalho, in the 
year 1861, in the Clerk’s Oflice of the District Court of the 
United States for the Southern District of New York. 



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INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 

The difficulty of obtaining ready access to the respective 
papers contained in this little volume, and the eagerness with 
which they are sought for by all, at this eventful period in our 
country’s history, renders such a compilation not only useful, but 
highly necessary. 

It is presented to the public in pocket form, of convenient 
size, and at a low price, thus saving much trouble, time and 
expense to the reader ; the publishers being only desirous of 
covering the cost of their outlay in its publication. 

E. N. CARVALHO, Publisher. 

Address, Box 175, P. O., N. Y. 


Nkw York, July 4, 1861. 




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DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 


A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OP THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, ADOPTED JULY 4 , 1776 . 

Whkn, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, 
the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature, and 
of nature’s God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident—that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien¬ 
able rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are insti¬ 
tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of 
the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its founda¬ 
tions on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi¬ 
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long estab¬ 
lished should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, 
accordingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more dis¬ 
posed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves 
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a 
long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same 
object, evinces a desire to reduce them under absolute despotism, it 
is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to 
provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the 
patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity 



6 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 


which constrains them to alter their former systems oi govern¬ 
ment. The history of the present king of Great Britain, is a his¬ 
tory of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct 
object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. 
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and neces¬ 
sary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations till his 
assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the Legislature—a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un¬ 
comfortable, and distant from the repository of their public records, 
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his 
measures. 

He has dissolved repre.sentative houses repeatedly, for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exer¬ 
cise ; the state remaining in the meantime, exposed to all the dan¬ 
gers of invasions from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states ; 
for that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of 
foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing hi.s 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the temure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries# 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, with¬ 
out the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and super 
ior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
states ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended 
offences; 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


7 


For abolishing the free system of English laws in the neighbor- 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and 
enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an exam¬ 
ple and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into 
these colonies ; 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments ; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and clecbiring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cas s whatsoever 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercen¬ 
aries, to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the execu¬ 
tioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their 
hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeav¬ 
ored to bring on the Inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguish¬ 
ed destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for re¬ 
dress in the mos*t humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is 
thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be 
the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British breth¬ 
ren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by 
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration 
and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and 
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our com¬ 
mon kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevita¬ 
bly interrupt onr connections and correspondence. They, too, 
have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We 
must, therefore, acquiesce in tlie necessity which denounces our 
separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind—ene¬ 
mies in war—in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Ameri¬ 
ca, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Su]>reme 
.fudge of the world for the rectitude of our iptentions, do, in the 
name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they are ab¬ 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political 
connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is, and 
ought to be, totally dissolved, and that, as free and independent 
states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things 


8 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


which independent states may of right do. And for the support of 
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine 
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our for¬ 
tunes, and our sacred honor. 

Signed by 

JOHN HANCOCK, of Massachusetts. 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Josiah Bartlett, 
William Whipple, 
Matthew Thornton. 

MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 

Samuel Adatns, 
John Adams, 

Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge G-erry. 

RHODE ISLAND, ETC. 

Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Roger Sherman, 
Samuel Huntingdon 
William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcoit. 

NEW YORK. 

William Floj'd, 
Phillip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 


NEW JERSEY. 

Richard Stockton, 
John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 
Abraham Clark. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Robert Morris, 
Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 
George Clymer, 
James Smith, 
George Taylor, 
James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

DELAWARE. 

Coesar Rodney, 
George Read, 
Thomas M’Kean. 

MARYLAND. 

Samuel Chase, 
William Paca, 


Thomas Stone, 

O. Carroll, of Carroll¬ 
ton. 

VIRGINIA. 

George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Tliomas Nelson, Jr., 
Francis LightfootLee, 
Carter Braxton. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Hooper, 
Joseph Hewes, 

John Penn. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Edward Rutledge, 
Thomas Heyward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Arthur Middleton. 

GEORGIA. 

Burton Gwinnett, 
Lyman Hall. 

George Walton. 


ARTICLES OP CONFEDERATION 


And Perpetual Union, between the States of New Hampshire, Mas¬ 
sachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Con¬ 
necticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. 

ARTICLE I. 

The style of this confederacy shall be, “ The United States of 
America.” 


ARTICLE II. 

Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence 
and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this con¬ 
federation expressly delegated to the United States in Con«-res 3 
assembled. 









DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


9 


ARTICLE III. 

The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friend¬ 
ship with each other, for their common defence, the security of 
their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding 
themselves to assist each other against all force otfered to, or at¬ 
tacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, 
sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and inter¬ 
course among the people of the different States in this Union, the 
the free inhabitants of each of these states, paupers, vagabonds, 
and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privi¬ 
leges and immunities of free citizens, in the several states ; and the 
people of each state shall have free ingress and egress to and from 
any other state ; and shall enjoy therein all the privileges of trade 
and commerce, subject to the same duties, impositions, and re¬ 
strictions, as the inhabitants thereof respectively ; provided, that 
such restriction shall not extend so far as to prevent the removal 
of property imported into any state, to any other state of which 
the owner is an inhabitant; provided, also, that no imposition, 
duties, or restriction, shall be laid by any state, on the i^roperty of 
the United States, or either of them. 

If any person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or other 
high misdemeanor, in any state, shall flee from justice, and be 
found in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand of the 
governor or executive power of the state from which he fled, be 
delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction of his 
off'ence. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each of these states to the 
records, acts, and judicial proceedings of the courts and magis¬ 
trates of every other state 


ARTICLE V. 

For the more convenient management of the general interests of 
the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such 
manner as the legislature of each state shall direct, to meet in con¬ 
gress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a 
power reserved to each state to recall its delegates, or any of them, 
at any time within the year, and send others in their stead, for the 
remainder of the year. 

No state shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor 
by m.ore than seven members; and no person shall be capable of 
being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six 
years ; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of hold¬ 
ing any office under the United States, for which he, or another 
for his'benefit, receives any salary, fees, or emolument of any kind. 

Each state shall maintain its own delegates, in a meeting of the 
states, and while they act as members of the committee of the states. 

In determining questions in the United States, in congress as¬ 
sembled, each state shall have one vote. 

Freedom of speech and debate in congress shall not be impeached 
or questioned, in any court or place out of congress ; and the mem¬ 
bers of congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests 
and imprisonment, during the time of their going to, and from, and 







10 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


attendance on, congress, except for treason, felony, or breach o;| 
the peace. 

ARTICLE VI. 

No state, without the consent of the United Sates in congress as- 
sembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy fron^y 
or entjor into any conference, aj 2 :reeinent, alliance, or treaty, witl|i 
any king, prince, or state ; nor shall any person, holding any offlceS 
or profit, or trust, under the United States, or any of them, accept! 
of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever,! 
from any king, prince, or foreign state ; nor shall the United Stateil 
in congress assembled, or any of them, grant any title ot nobility.|' 

No two or more states shall enter into any treaty, confederation, 
or alliance whatever, between them, without the consent of the 
United States in congress assembled, specifying accurately the pur-1 
poses for which the same is to be entered into, and how long itl 
shall continue. 

No state shall lay any imposts or duties, which may interfere! 
with any stipulations in treaties entered into by the United States] 
in congress assembled, with any king, prince, or state, in pur¬ 
suance of any treaties, already proposed by congress to the courts] 
of France and Spain. 

No vessels of war shall be kept up, in time of peace, by any state, 
except such number only, as shall be deemed necessary by the 
United States in congress assembled, for the defence of such state, 
or its trade ; nor shall any body of forces be kept up by any state, j 
in time of peace, except such number only, as in the judgment oCT 
the United States in congress assembled shall be deemed requisite*^ 
to garrison the forts necessary for the defence of such state ; but] 
every state shall always keep up a well-regulated and disciplined! 
militia, sufficiently armed and accovitred; and shall provide and 
constantly have ready for use, in public stores, a due number of 
field-fiieces and tents, and a proper quantity of arms, ammunition, 
and camp equipage. 

No state shall engage in any war, without the consent of the Uni¬ 
ted States in congress assembled, unless such state be actually in¬ 
vaded by enemies, or shall have received certain advice of a reso¬ 
lution being formed by some nation of Indians to invade such state, 
and the danger is so imminent as not to admit of a delay till the 
United States in congress assembled can be consulted ; nor shall 
any state grant commissions to any ship or vessels of war, nor let-' 
ters of marque or rejirisal, except it be after a declaration of| 
war by the United Slates in congress assembled ; and then onlvj 
against the kingdom or state, and the subjects thereof, againsr 
which war h:us been so declared, and under such regulations as 
shall be established by the United States in congress assembled ; 
unless such state be infested by pirates, in which vessels of war 
may be fitted out for that occasion, and kept so long as the danger 
shall continue, or until the United States in congress assembled 
shall determine otherwise. 


ARTICLE VII. 

When land forces are raised by any state for the common defence, 
all officers of, or under, the rank of colonel, shall be appointed by 
the legislature of each state respectively, by whom such forces 
shall be raised, or in such manner as such state shall direct; and 
all vacancies shall be filled up by the state which first made the 
appointment. 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


11 


ARTICLE yill. 


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All char{?es of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred 
for the common defence, or general welfare, and allowed by the 
United States in congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a 
common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states in 
proportion to the value of all land within each state, granted to, or 
surveyed for, any person, as such land and the buildings and im¬ 
provements thereon shall be estimated, according to such mode 
as the United States in congress assembled shall, from time to time, 
direct and appoint. The taxes for paying that proportion, shall be 
laid and levied by the atithority and direction of the legislatures of 
the several states, within the time agreed ujton by the United States 
in congress assembled. 


r.' 


it 


ARTICLE IX. 


j The United States in congress assembled, shall have the sol? and 
3 exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war, except 
.. in the cases mentioned in the sixth article : of sending and receiv- 
j ing ambassadors -. entering into treaties and alliances : provided 
that no treaty of commerce shall be made, whereby the legislative 
power of the respective states shall be restrained from imposing 
111 such imposts and duties on foreigners as their own people are sub- 
I jected to, or from prohibiting the exportation or importation of any 
't species of goods or commodities whatever: of establishing rules 
for deciding, in all cases, what captures on land or water shall be 
. legal ; and in what manner prizes, taken by land or naval forces, 
i in the service of the United States, shall be divided or appropria¬ 
ted : of granting letters of marque and reprisal, in times of peace ; 
appointing courts for the trial of piracies and felonies committed 
on the high seas ; and establishing courts for receiving and deter¬ 
mining, finally, appeals in all cases of captures : provided, that no 
member of congress shall be appointed a judge of any of the said 
< courts. 

The United States in congress assembled shall also be the lastre- 
: sort, on appeal, in all disputes and differences now subsisting, or 
I that hereafter may arise, between two or more states, concerning 
• boundary, jurisdiction, or any other cause whatever ; which au- 
i thority shall always be exercised in the manner following : when- 

I ever the legislative or executive authority, or lawful agent, of any 
state, in controversy with another, shall present a petition to con¬ 
gress, stating the matter in question, and praying for a hearing, 
notice thereof shall be given, by order of congress, to the legisla- 
' tive or executive authority of the other state in controversy : and a 
; day assigned for the appearance of the parties by their lawful agents 
who shall then be directed to appoint, by joint consent, commission¬ 
ers or judges, to constitute a court for hearing and determining the 
: matter in question : but if they cannot agree, congress shall name 
' three persons, out of each of the United States ; and from the list 
I of such persons, each party shall alternately strike out one, the pe¬ 
titioners beginning, until the number shall be reduced to thirteen ; 
and from that number, not less than seven, nor more than nine, 
j names, as congress shall direct, shall, in the presence of con¬ 
gress, be drawn out, by lot; and the persons whose names shall be 
so drawn, or any five of them, shall be commissioners or judges, to 
hear and finally determine the controversy, so always .as a major 
part of the judges, who shall hear the cause, shall agree in the de- 
; termination. And if either party shall neglect to attend at the day 






12 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


appointed, without showing reasons which congress shall judge! emt 
sutlicienf, or being present shall refuse to strike, the congress shalli hud 
proceed to nominate three persons out of each state ; and the secre-| fep 
tary of congress shall strike in behalf of such party absent or re- |rtj 
fusing ; and the judgment and sentence of the court, to be appoin-|ofe 
ted in the manner before prescribed, shall be final and conclusive.||j anr: 
And if any of the parties shall refuse to submit to the authority of J p , 
such court, or to appear, or defend their claim or cause, the courtjl am 
shall, nevertheless, proceed to pronounce sentence or judgment, I h' 
which shall in like manner be final and decisive ; the judgment, or ! 
sentence, and other proceedings, being, in either case, transmitted t t 
to congress, and lodged among the acts of congress, for the security I pv 
of the parties concerned : provided, that every commissioner, be- I (,• 
fore he sits in judgment, shall take an oath, to be administered by | m 
one of the judges of the supreme or superior court of the state, | ai 
where the cause shall be tried, “ well and truly to hear and deter- | jt 
mine the matter in question, according to the best of his judgment, 
without favor, affection, or hope of reward provided, also, that ^ 
no state shall be deprived ol territory for the benefit of the United ( 
States. 

All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed ; 

under different grants of two or more states, whose jurisdictions, , 

as they may respect such lands and the states which passed such 
grants, are adjusted, the said grants, or either of them, being at the 
same time claimed to have originated antecedent to such settlement 
of jurisdiction, shall, on the petition of either party to the congress 
of the United States, be finally determined, as near as may be, in 
the same manner as is before prescribed for deciding disputes re¬ 
specting territorial jurisdiction between different states. ] 

The United States in congress assembled shall also have the sole | 
and exclusive right and power of regulating the alloy and value ot 
coin struck by their own authority, or by that of the respective 
states : fixing the standard of weights and measures throughout the 
United States ; regulating the trade and managing all affairs with 
the Indians, not members of any of the states ; provided that the 
legislative right of any state within its own limits be not infringed ' 
or violated : establishing and regulating post-ollices from one state : j 
to another, throughout all the TJnited States, and exacting such / 
postage on the papers passing through the same as may be requisite V j 
to defray the expenses of the said office : appointing all officers of ' 
the land forces in the service of the United States, excepting regi- i 
mental officers : appointing all the officers of the naval forces, and ' 
commissioning all officers whateA'er in the service of the United 
States : making rules for the government and regulation of the land ^ 
and naval forces, and directing their operations. 

The United States in congress assembled shall have authority to 
aiipoint a committee, to sit in the recess of congress, to be denomi¬ 
nated A COMMITTEE OF THE STATES, and to consist of One delegate from 
each state ; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers 
as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United 
States under their direction; to appoint one of their number to 
preside ; provided, that no person be allowed to serve in the office 
of president more than one year in any term of three years. To ’ 
ascertain the necessary sums of money to be raised for the service ( 
of the United States, and to appropriate and apply the same for de- ' 
fraying the public expenses : to borrow money, or emit bills on the / 
credit of the United States, transmitting every half year to the re- f 
spective states an account of the sums of money so borrowed or ' 







DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


13 


emitted : to build and equip a navy : to a<?ree upon the number of 
land forces, and to make requisitions from each state for its quota, 
in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such state’, 
which requisition shall be bindinj^ ; and thereupon the lejtislature 
of each state shall appoint the regimental officers, raise the men, 
and clothe, arm, and equip them, in a soldierlike manner, at the ex¬ 
pense of the United States; and the officers and men so clothed, 
armed, and equipped, shall march to the place appointed, and with¬ 
in the time agreed on, by the United States in congress assembled ; 
but if the United States in congress assembled shall, on considera¬ 
tion of circumstances, judge proper that any state should not raise 
men, or should raise a smaller number than its quota, and that any 
other state should raise a greater number of men than it.s ciuota 
thereof, such extra number shall be raised, officered, clothed, 
armed, and equipped, in the same manner as the ciuota of such 
state ; unless the legislature of such state shall judge that such ex¬ 
tra number cannot be safely spared out of the same ; in which case 
they shall raise, officer, clothe, arm, and equip, as many of such 
extra number as they judge can be safely spared : and the officers 
and men so clothed, armed, and equipped, shall march to the place 
appointed, and within the time agreed on, by the United States in 
congress assembled. 

The United States in congress assembled shall never engage in a 
war j nor grant letters of marque and reprisal in time of peace ; nor 
enter into any treaties or alliances : nor coin money ; nor regulate 
the value thereof ; nor ascertain the sums and expenses necessary 
for the defence and welfare of the United States, or any of them 
nor emit bills; nor borrow money on the credit of the United 
States ; nor appropriate money; nor agree upon the number of 
war vessels to be built or purchased, or the number of land and sea 
forces to be raised ; nor appoint a commander-in-chief of the army 
or navy ; unless nine states assent to the same ; nor shall a ques¬ 
tion on any oth^r point, except for adjourning from day to day, be 
determined, unless by the votes of a majority of the United States 
in congress assembled. 

The congress of the United States shall have power to adjourn 
to any time within the year, and to any place within the United 
States, so that no period of adjournment be for a longer duration 
than the space of six months ; and shall publish the journal of their 
proceedings monthly, except such parts thereof relating to treaties,, 
alliances, or military operations, as in their judgment require se¬ 
crecy ; and the yeas and nays of the delegates of each state,,on any 
question, shall be entered on the journal, when it is desired by any 
delegate; rmd the delegates of a state, or any of them, at his or 
their request, shall be furnished with a transcript of the said jour¬ 
nal, except such jjarts as are above excepted, to lay before the' leg¬ 
islatures of the several states, 

ARTICLE X. 

The committee of the states, or any nine of them, shall be autho¬ 
rized to execute, in the recess of congress, such of the powers of 
congress as the United States in congress assembled, by the con¬ 
sent of nine states, shall, from time to time, think expedient to vest 
them with ; provided, that no power be delegated to the said com¬ 
mittee, for the exercise of which, by the articles of confederation, 
the voice of nine states in the congress of the United States assem¬ 
bled is requisite. 





14 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


ARTICLE XI. 

Canada, acceding: to this confederation, and joining in the meas' 
ures of the United States, shall be admitted into, and entitled to all 
the advantages of this Union. But no other colony shall be ad¬ 
mitted into the same, unless such admission be agreed to by nine 
■states. 


ARTICLE XII. 

All bills of credit emitted, moneys borrowed, and debts contract¬ 
ed, by or under the authority of congress, before the assembling of 
the United States, in pursuance of the present confederation, shall 
be deemed and considered as a charge against the United States, for 
ipayment and satisfaction whereof, the said United States, and the 
.public faith, are hereby solemnly pledged. 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Every state shall abide by the determinations of the United States 
lin congress assembled, on all questions which, by this confedera¬ 
tion, are submitted to them. And the articles of this confederation 
shall be inviolably observed by every state ; and the Union shall 
be perpetual. Nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be 
made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to, in a con¬ 
gress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the 
legislatures of every state. 

And whereas, it hath pleased the great Governor of the world to 
incline the hearts of the legislatures we respectively represent in 
congress to approve of, and to authorize us to ratify, the said arti¬ 
cles of confederation and perpetual union : 

Know Ye, That we, the undersigned delegates, by virtue of the 
power and authority to us given for that purpose, do, by these 
presents, in the name, and in behalf, of our respective constituents, 

' fully and entirely ratify and confirm each and every of the said 
articles of confederation and perpetual union, and all and singular 
the matters and things therein contained. And we do further 
solemnly plight and engage the faith of our respective constituents, 
that they shall abide by the determinations of the United States in 
- congress assembled, on all questions, which, by the said conf^edera- 
tion, are submitted to them ; and that the articles thereof shall be 
inviolably observed by the states we respectively represent; and 
that the union shall be perpetual. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands in congress. 
Done at Philadelphia, in the state of Pennsylvania, the ninth day 
of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and seventy-eight, and in the third year of the Independence of 
America. 
















CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES 


Wb, the People of the United States, in order to form a more per¬ 
fect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, pro¬ 
vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liber^ to ourselves and our posterity, 
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of 
America. 


ARTICLE I. 

Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested 
in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and House of Representatives. 

Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the 2 }eople of the several 
states, anti the electors in each state shall have the qualifications 
requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state 
legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabit¬ 
ant of that state in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several states which may be included within this Union, according 
to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to 
service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 
United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in 
such manner as they shall bylaw direct. The number of repre¬ 
sentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each 
state shall have at least one representative ; and until such enume¬ 
ration shall be made, the state of New Hampshire shall be entitled 
to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New Jersey four, 
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Mai*yland six. Vii’ginia ten. 
North Carolina five. South Carolina live, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies hapisen in the representation from any state, the 





16 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. , 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and 1 
other ofiicers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. , 

Sectiox 3 The Senate of the United States shall be composed of j 
two senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for ■ 
six years ; and each senator shall have one vote. ] 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the ij 
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three « 
classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated 5 
at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the ex- 
piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration J 
of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during :i 
the recess of the legislature of any state, the executive thereof may | 
make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legis- i 
ture, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the l 
of age thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United | 
States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
state for which he shall be chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States shall be president of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equall 3 " divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other ofiicers, and also a president 
pro tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall 
exercise the oflice of president of the United States. 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments; 
when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or allirmation. 
When the president of the United States is tried, the chief-justice j 
shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the con¬ 
currence of two-thirds of the members present. 

.ludgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than i 
to removal from otflce, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
olfice of honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the 
party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indict- > 
ment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

Sectiox 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by i 
the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, ' 
make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing > 
senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday in Hecembei*, unless they shall, 
by law, appoint a different da^". 

Sectiox 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, 
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall { 
constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may ' 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the at- i 
tendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such pen¬ 
alties as each house may provide. ■ 

Each'house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish I 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of i 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from : 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their * 
judgment may require secrecy, and the yeas and nays of the mem- " 




CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 


17 


bers of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-flfth 
of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Section 6. The senators and representatives shall receive a com¬ 
pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, ex¬ 
cept treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective 
houses, and ingoing to and returning from the same ; and for any 
speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he 
was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of 
the United States, which shall have been created, or the emolu¬ 
ments whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and 
no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a 
member of either house during his continuance in office. 


Section 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur 
with amendments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the 
president of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but 
if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which 
it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on 
their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such recon¬ 
sideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it 
shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by 
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two- 
thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such cases 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and 
the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be 
entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill 
shall not be returned by the president within ten days (Sunday ex¬ 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall 
be a law, i n like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress 
by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not 
be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of 
the United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 
approved by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed 
by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, accord¬ 
ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section 8. The.Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, 
duties, imposts ^nd excises, to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defence and general welfare of the United States ; but all 
duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United 
States ; 

To borrow money on the credit of the United states ; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the sev¬ 
eral stales, and with the Indian tribes. 

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 




18 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


To coin money, regnlate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures ; 

To provide for the ijunisliment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States ; 

To establish post-ollices and post-roads; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to 
their respective writings and discoveries ; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offences against the laws of nations ; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water ; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

To provide and maintain a navy ; 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws ol 
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the 
service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, 
the appointment of the olficers, and the authority of training the 
militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession 
of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legisla¬ 
ture of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, 
magazines, arsenals, dockyards,and other needful buildings ;—and 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry¬ 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vest¬ 
ed by this constitution in the government of the United States, or 
in any department or oltlcer thereof. 

Section 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the states now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im¬ 
portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspend¬ 
ed, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety 
may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in propor¬ 
tion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state. 

No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue to the ports of one state over those of another ; nor shall 
vessels bound to or from one state, be obliged to enter, clear, or 
pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and ac¬ 
count of the receipts and expenditures of all iiublic money shall 
be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and 
no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


19 


without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolu¬ 
ment, office, or title, of an}’^ kind wliavever, from any king, prince 
or foreign state. 

Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con¬ 
federation, grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; 
emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a ten¬ 
der in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto 
law or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title 
of nobility. 

No stale shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im¬ 
post or duties on imports or exports, except what may be abso¬ 
lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net 
produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any state on imijorts or 
exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States ; 
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of 
the Congress 

No state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
tonnage, keep troops, or ships-of-war in time of peace, enter into 
any agreement or compact with another state, or with a foreign 
power, or engage in war, uuI.jss actually invaded, or in such im¬ 
minent danger as will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President cf 
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the 
term of four years, and, together with the vice-president, chosen 
for the same term, be elected as follows : 

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature there¬ 
of may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of 
senators and representatives to which the state may be entitled 
in the Congress ; but no senator or representative, or person hold¬ 
ing an office of trust or profit under the United States, shali be ap¬ 
pointed an elector. 

[The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
bal.ot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhab¬ 
itant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a 
list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for 
each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
to the seat of the goverrim^>nt of the United States, directed to the 
president of the Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the 
certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
having the greatest number ot votes shall be the president, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of electors apiiointed ; 
and if there be more thari one who have such majority and have 
an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediatel}’^ choose by ballot, one of them for president; and if 
no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list, 
the said house shall in like manner choose the president. But in 
choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by states, the rep¬ 
resentation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a 
choice. In ev'ery case, after the choice of the president, the per- 

jn having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be 
die vice-president. But if there should remain two or more who 


20 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
vice-president.] 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person 
be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of 
thirty-five years, and been fourteen years resident within the 
United States. 

In case of the removal of the president from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties 
of the said olfice, the same shall devolve on the vice-president, 
and the Congress may bylaw provide for the case of removal, 
death, resignation, or inability, both of the president and vice- 
president, declaring what officer shall then act as president, and 
such olflcer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or a president shall be elected. 

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a 
compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the period for which he shall have been elected, and ho 
shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the 
United States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
following oath or affirmation ;—“ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 
that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and 
defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Section 2. The president shall be commander-in- hief of the army 
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
states, when called into the actual service of the United States : he 
may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal oflicer in each 
of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the du¬ 
ties of their respective offices, and he shall fiave powei to grant re¬ 
prieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except 
in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds ofthe senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and con¬ 
sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public minis¬ 
ters and consols, judgesof the supreraecourt, and all other officers 
of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise 
provided for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Con¬ 
gress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as 
they think proper, in the President aione, in the courts of law,’or 
in the heads of departments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
happen duri.ng the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress infor¬ 
mation ofthe state of the Union, and recommend to their consider¬ 
ation such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient* 
he may on extraordinary occasions, convene both houses or 
either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn thena to such 
time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive ambassadors and 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 


21 


ministers; he shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the 
United States. 

Section 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment 
for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and 
misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section 1. The judicial power of the United States, shall he vested 
in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of 
the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offiees during 
good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, 
a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their con¬ 
uance in office. 

Section 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their au¬ 
thority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, 
and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; 
to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to 
controversies between two or more states; between a state and 
citizens of another state ; between citizens of ditferent states ; be¬ 
tween citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of 
different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a state shall bo party, the supreme 
court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
mentioned, the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, 
both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such 
reurulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, excejitin cases of impeachment, shall be 
bj'jury, and such trial shall be held in the state where the said 
crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within 
any state, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
may by law have directed. 

Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in 
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony 
of tvvo witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, 
or forfeiture except during the life of the person attained. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Sectio.v 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. 
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in 
which such acts, records, and jiroceedings shall be proved, and the 
effect thereof. 

Section 2. The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privi¬ 
leges and immunities of citizens in the several states. 

A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other 


22 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 


crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another state, 
shall, on demand of the executive authority of the state from which 
he fled, he delivered up, to be removed to the state having jurisdic¬ 
tion of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
or labor may be due. 

Section 3. New states may be admitted by the Congress into this 
Union ; but no new state shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed by the 
junction of two or more states, without the consent of the legisla¬ 
tures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all need¬ 
ful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution 
shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
States, or of any particular state. 

Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state in this 
Union, a republican form of government, and shall protect each 
of them against invasion, and, on application of the legislature, or 
of the executive (when the legislature canuot be convened), against 
domestic violence. 


ARTICLE V. 

Tlie Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on 
the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in 
either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this 
Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the 
several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the 
one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Con¬ 
gress ; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to 
the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner 
affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first 
article ; and that no state, without its consent, shall he deprived of 
its equal suffrage in xhe Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United 
States under this Constitution, as under the confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the 
supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be 
bound thereby, any thing in the constitution or laws of any state to 
the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, 
shall be bound by oath or alfirmation, to support this Constitution ; 
but no religious test shall be ever required as a qualification to 
any office or public trust under the United States. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 


23 


ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine states, shall be suffici¬ 
ent for the establishment of this Constitution between the states so 
ratifying the same. 

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present, 
the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the indepen¬ 
dence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness 
whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORaE WASHIjSTGTOlNr, 
President, and Deputy from Virginia. 


NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John Langdon, 
Nicholas Gilman. 

Massachusetts. 
Nathaniel Gorham, 
Rufus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

William Samuel John 
son, 

Roger Sherman. 

NEW YORK. 

Alex.ander Hamilton. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Miffiln, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
Gouverneur Morris. 

DELAWARE. 

George Reed, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr, 
.Tohn Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 


VIRGINIA. 

.Tohn Blair, 

James Madison, Jr, 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Blount, 
Richard Dobbs 
Spaight, 

Hugh Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

jJohn Rutledge, 
Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 


NEW JERSEY. 

William Livingston, 
David Brearley, 
William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton. 
Attest ; 


MARYLAND. 

James M’Henry, 
Danie of St. Thomas 
Jenifer, 

Danial Carroll. 


GEORGIA. 

William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 


WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 






AMENDMENTS 


TO THE CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATE-3, RATIFIED ACCORDING j 
TO THE PROVISIONS OP THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE FOREGOING j 
CONSTITUTION. i 


Article the First. Congress shall make no law respecting an I 
esrablisliment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ; 
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the right j 
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern¬ 
ment for redress of grievances. 

Article the Second. A well-regulated militia, being necessary to ; 
the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear ; 
arms shall not be infringed. i 


Article the Third. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered 
in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article the Fourth. The right of the people to be secure in their 
persons, houses, papers, and elfects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, 
but upon probable cause, supported by oath or alhrmation, and 
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons 
or things to bo seized. 

Artlcle the Fifth. No person shall be held to answer for a capi¬ 
tal, or otherwise, infamous crime, unless on a presentment or 
indictment of a grand jury, except in ca.ses arising in the land or 
naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of 
war and public danger; nor shall any pev.-ion be subject for the 
same otfence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall 
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, 
nor to be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due pro¬ 
cess of law; nor shall private jiroperty be taken for iiublic use, 
without just compensation. 


AiiTiciE THE Sixth. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall 
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury 
of the state and di.^trict wherein the crime shall have been com¬ 
mitted, which district shall have been previously ascertained by 
law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of tlie accusation ; 
to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com¬ 
pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have 
the assistance of counsel for his defence. 


Article tbe Seventh. In suits at common law, where the value in 
controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury 
shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise 
ro-examined in any court of the United States, than according to 
the rules of common law. 


Article the Eighth. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor exces¬ 
sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment indicted. 

Article the Ninth. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 


25 


rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retain¬ 
ed by the peoijle. 

Article the Texth. The powers not delegated to the United States 
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved 
to the states respectively, or to the people. 

Article the Eleventh. The judicial power of the United States 
shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, 
commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any 
foreign state. 

Article the Twelfth. The electors shall meet in their respective 
states, and vote by ballot for president and vice-president, one ot 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with 
themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for 
as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice- 
president, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted 
for as president, and of all persons voted for as vice-president, 
and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of 
the United States, directed to the president of the Senate; the 
president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes 
shall then be counted ; the person having the greatest number of 
votes for president, shall be the president, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no 
person have such majority, then from the persons having the 
highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for 
aspresident, the House of Representatives shall choose immediate¬ 
ly, by ballot, the president. Rutin choosingthe president, the votes 
shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having 
one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of member or 
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the 
states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives shall not choose a president whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
next following, then the vice-president shall act as president, as 
in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
president. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
vice-president, shall be the vice-president, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no 
person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list, the Senate shall choose the vice-president; a quorum for the 
purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of sena¬ 
tors, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United 
States. 


WASHINGTON’S 

Farewell _a.ddress 

TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Friends and Fellow Citizens; —The period for a new election of a 
citizen, to administer the executive government of the United 
States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when 
your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who 
is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, 
especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the 
public voice, that 1 should now apprise you of the resolution I 
have formed, to decline being considered among the number of 
those, out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I begyou, at the same time, to dome the justice to be assured, that 
this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the 
considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful 
citizen to his country ; and that, in withdrawing the tender of ser¬ 
vice, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced 
by no diminution of zeal tor your future interest; no deflciency of 
grateful respect for your past kindness ; but am supported by a 
full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the oflice to 
which your sutfrages have twice called me, have been a uniform 
sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference 
for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped, that it 
would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with 
motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that 
retirement, from which I had been reluctantlj’^ drawn. The 
strength of ray inclination to do this, previous to the last election, 
had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; 
but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of 
our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of per¬ 
sons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well as in¬ 
ternal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible 
with the sentiment of duty, or propriety ; and am persuaded, what¬ 
ever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present 
circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determi¬ 
nation to retire. 

The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust, 
were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this 
trust, I will only say, that I have, with good intentions, contribu¬ 
ted towards the organization and administration of the government 
the best exertions which a very fallible judgment was capable 
Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifica¬ 
tions, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more irUthe eyes of 
others, has strengthened the motive to diffidence of myself ; and 
every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and 
more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be 
welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given iieculiar 
value to my services, they were temporary, 1 have the consolation 




Washington’s farewell address. 


27 


to believe, that, while choice aiid prudence invite me to quit the 
political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In lookinj^ forv/ard to the moment which is intended to terminate 
the cai’eer of my public life, my feelinjjs do not permit me tosuspend 
the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude, which I owe 
to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon 
me ; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has sup¬ 
ported me ; and lor the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of man¬ 
ifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and perse¬ 
vering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have 
resulted to cur country from these services, let it always be remem¬ 
bered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, 
that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every 
direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes 
dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations 
in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the 
spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential 
prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they 
were eflected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall car- 
r}’’ it with me to my grave, as .a strong incitement to unceasing 
vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its 
beneficence; that jmur union and brotherly affection may be per¬ 
petual ; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, 
may be sacredly maintained ; that its administration in every 
department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that, in 
fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices 
of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation and 
so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory 
of recommending it to the ai^plause, the aftection, and adoption of 
every nation, which is yet a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your wel¬ 
fare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of 
danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like 
the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recom¬ 
mend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are the 
result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and 
which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your 
felicity as a People. These will be offered to ycu with the more 
freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings 
of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to 
bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, 
your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not 
dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of 3mur 
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or con¬ 
firm the attachment. 

The unity of (rovernment. which constitutes you one people, is 
also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the 
edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility 
at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity ; 
of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy 
to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters, 
much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in 
your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in 
j-our political fortress against which the batteries of internal and 
external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though of¬ 
ten covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, 
that you should properly estimate the immense value of your 



28 Washington’s farewell address. 

»4-\ 

national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that 
you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immoveable attach¬ 
ment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of 
the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity ; watching 
for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing what¬ 
ever may suggest even a suspicion, that it can in any event be 
abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of 
every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, 
or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various 
parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. 
Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country 
has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of Americ.vn, 
which belongs to you, in j’our national capacity, must always 
exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation de¬ 
rived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, 
you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political princi¬ 
ples. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together ; 
the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint 
counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, suft’erings, and 
successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully thpy address 
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those 
which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every 
portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for 
carefully guarding and preserving the Union of the whole. 

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, pro¬ 
tected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the 
productions of the latter, great additional resources of maritime 
and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufactur¬ 
ing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by 
the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its com¬ 
merce expand. Turning partlj’^ into its own channels the seamen 
of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated ; and, 
while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the 
general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the 
protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally 
adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already 
finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communica¬ 
tions by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent 
for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures 
at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its 
growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater conse¬ 
quence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispen¬ 
sable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and 
the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, 
directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. 
Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advan¬ 
tage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an 
apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign itower, must 
be intrinsically precariotis. 

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate 
and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot 
fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, 
greater resource, proportionably greater security from external 
danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign 
nations ; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from 
Union an exemption from those broils and wars between them- 






Washington’s farewell address. 


29 


selves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied 
together by the same governments, which their own rivalships 
alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign 
alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embit¬ 
ter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those over¬ 
grown military establishments, which, under any form of govern¬ 
ment, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as 
particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, 
that your LTnion ought to be considered as a main jtrop of your 
liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the pre¬ 
servation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every re¬ 
flecting and \irtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the 
Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, 
whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ? 
Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a 
case were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that a proper or¬ 
ganization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments 
for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the 
experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With 
such jtovverful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of 
our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its 
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the 
patriotism of those, wTio in any quarter may endeavor to weaken 
its bands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it 
occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have 
been furnished for characterizing parties by Oeograjihical discrim¬ 
inations, liorthern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence 
designing men maj’’ endeavor to excite a belief, that there is a real 
difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of 
party to acciuire inlluence, within particular districts, is to mis¬ 
represent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot 
shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burn¬ 
ings, which si)riug from these misrepresentations; they tender to 
render alien to each other those, w'ho ought to be bound together 
by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country 
have lately had a itseful lesson on this head; they have seen, in 
the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification 
by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satis¬ 
faction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive 
proof how unfounded were the suspicions iiropagated among them 
of a policy in the G-eneral Government and in the Atlantic States 
unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi ; they have 
been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with 
Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every 
thing they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards 
conlirming their jirosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely 
for the jjreservation of these advantages on the Union by which 
they were procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those 
advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their 
brethren, and connect them with aliens? 

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government 
for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, be¬ 
tween the parts can be an adequate substitute , they must inevit¬ 
ably experience the infractions and interruptions, which all alli¬ 
ances in all times have exiierieiiced. Sensible of this momentous 
truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption 




30 


Washington’s farewell address. 


of a Constitution of Government better calculated than your 
former for an intimate Union, and for the efficacious management i 
of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of our ^ 
own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investi¬ 
gation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, 
in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energj^ and 
containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a 
just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its 
authority, compliance with its laws, actiuiescence in its me.asures, 
are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. 
The basis of our political systems is the right of the peojJle to make I 
and to alter their Constitutions of Government. Rut the Consti-' 
tution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and 
authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. 
The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish 
Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the 
established Government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations | 
and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the t 
real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular delib- ! 
eration and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive 1 
of this fundamental princii)le, and of fatal tendency. They serve 
to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; 
to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of 
a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the < 
community ; and, according to the :Uternate triumphs of different 
parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill- 
concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the 
organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common 
counsels, and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above description 
ma}"^ now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the | 
course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which 
cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to sub¬ 
vert the power of the people, and to \isurp for themselves the 
reins of government; destroying afterwards the very engines, 
which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your Government, and the perma¬ 
nency of your i)resent happy state, it is requisite, not only that 
you ste.adily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowl¬ 
edged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of 
innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. 
One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the consti¬ 
tution, alterations, which will impair the energy of the system, 
and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In 
all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time 
and habit are at least as necessar 3 ’- to fix the true character of gov¬ 
ernments as of other human institutions ; that experience is the 
surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing 
constitution of a country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit 
of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, 
from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remem¬ 
ber, especially, that, for the efficient management of your common 
interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as 
much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is 
indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such agovernment, with 
powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It 
is, indeed, little else than a name,'where the government is too 







Washington’s farewell address. 


31 


feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each 
member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, 
and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the 
rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, 
with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical 
discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, 
and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful ef¬ 
fects of the spirit of party, generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, hav¬ 
ing its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists 
under different shapes in all governments, more or less stilled, 
controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is 
seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened 
by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in dif¬ 
ferent ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enor¬ 
mities, is itself a frighful despotism. But this leads at length to a 
more formal and permanent despotism. The disorder and miseries, 
which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security 
and repose in the absolute power of an individual ; and sooner or 
later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortu¬ 
nate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of 
his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which 
nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common 
and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make 
it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain 
it. 

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble 
the Public Administration. It agitates the community with ill- 
founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one 
part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. 
It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a 
facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of 
party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are 
subjected to the policy and will of another. 

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful 
checks upon the administration of the (xovernment, and serve to 
keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is prob¬ 
ably true ; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast. Patriotism 
may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of 
party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments 
purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their na¬ 
tural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that 
si^irit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant dan¬ 
ger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to 
mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a 
uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, iirstead 
of warning, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free 
country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with its admin¬ 
istration, to confine themselves within their respective constiin- 
tional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one 
department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroach¬ 
ment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, 
and thus to create, whatever the form of government, areal despot¬ 
ism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse 


32 


WASHINGTON S FAEEWELL ADDRESS. 


it, whicn predominates in the hmnan heart, is sufficient to satisfy 
i:s of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks 
in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it 
into different depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of 
the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced 
by experiments ancient and modern ; some of them in our country 
and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary 
as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribu¬ 
tion or modification of the constitutional powers be in any parti¬ 
cular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, in the w'ay 
which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by 
usurpation ; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instru¬ 
ment of good, it is the customary ■weapon by which free govern¬ 
ments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overba¬ 
lance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the 
use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits, -w'hich lead to political pros¬ 
perity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain 
would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor 
to subvert these great pillars of human hapi^iness, these firmest 
of props of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, 
equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. 
A volume could not trace all their connections with private and 
public felicity. Let it simply be asked, AVhere is the security for 
property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obliga¬ 
tion desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in 
Courts of Justice 1 And let us with caution indulge the supposi¬ 
tion, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever 
may be conceded to the inlluence of refined education on minds of 
Iteculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, 
that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious prin¬ 
ciples. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessarj- 
spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with 
more or less force to every species of free government. Who, that 
is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts 
to shake the foundation of the fabric 1 

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions 
for the general diff'usion of knowledge. In proportion as the 
structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is es¬ 
sential that public opinion should be enlightened. 

As a very important soitrce of strength and security, cherish 
public credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as spar¬ 
ingly as possible ; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating 
peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare 
for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to 
repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by 
shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time 
of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have 
occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the bur¬ 
then, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these 
maxims belongs to ymur representatives, but it is necessary that 
public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the per¬ 
formance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically 
bear in mind, that towards the pajunent of debts there must be 
Revenue ; that to have Revenue there must be taxes ; that no taxes 
can be devised, -which are not more or less inconvenient and un¬ 
pleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the 




WASHINGTONS FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


33 


selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difll 
cullies), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of 
the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of 
acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the 
public exigencies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate 
peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this 
conduct; can it be, that faith and good policy does not equally en¬ 
join it 'l It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant 
l)eriod, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and 
too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice 
and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and 
things, the fruits of such apian would richly repay any temporary 
adantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it I (Jan 
it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a 
Nation with its virtue ! The experiment, at least, is recommended 
by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is it 
rendered impossible by its vices 1 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than 
that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, 
and jiassionate attachments for others, should be excluded ; and 
that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should 
be cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an 
habitual hatred or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. 
It is a slave to its animosity or to its aifection, either of which is 
sullicient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy 
in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer 
insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be 
haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of 
dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, 
and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resent¬ 
ment, sometimes impels to war the (rovernment, contrary to the best 
calculations of policy. The Cxovernment sometimes participates in 
the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason 
would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation 
subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, 
and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, some¬ 
times perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim. 

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another 
produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, 
facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases 
where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the 
enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in 
the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement 
or j ustification. It le.ads also to concessions to the favorite Nation 
of iu'ivileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the 
Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with 
what ought to have been retained ; and by exciting jealousy, ill- 
will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal 
privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or 
deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) 
facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, 
without odium, sometimes even with impularity ; gilding, with the 
appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable 
deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, 
the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatu¬ 
ation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such 



34 


Washington’s farewell address. 


attacliments are particularly alarming to tlie truly enlightened and 
independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to 
tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to 
mislead jniblic opinion, to influence or awe the Public Councils! 
Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and power¬ 
ful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure jmu to 
believe me, fellow citiiiens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to 
be coDHtatitly awake; since history and experience prove, that 
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican 
Grovernment. Hut that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; 
else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, 
instead of a defence against it. Excessive partialiU' for one foreign 
nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they 
actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even 
second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may 
resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected 
and odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the apitlause and con¬ 
fidence of the people, to surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, 
in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little 
political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed 
engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here 
let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or 
a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent 
controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our 
concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate 
ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes other poli¬ 
tics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships 
or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to 
pursue a difl'erent course. If we remain one people, under an elH- 
cient government, the period is not far off, w'hen we may defy 
material injury from external annoyance; when we may take 
such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time 
resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent 
nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, 
will not lightl 3 ’^ hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may 
Choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall 
counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation 1 Why quit 
our own to stand upon foreign ground'? Why, by interweaving 
our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace 
and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, inter¬ 
est, humor, or caprice? 

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with 
any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at 
liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patron¬ 
izing infidelity to existing engagements. 1 hold the maxim no less 
applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always 
the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be 
observed in their genuine sense. Hut, in my opinion, it is unneces¬ 
sary and would be unwise to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, 
on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to tempo¬ 
rary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended 
by policy, humanity, and interest. Hut even our commercial policy 







Washington’s farewell address. 


35 


should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor 
granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural 
course of things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the 
streams of commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing, with 
powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define 
the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to sup¬ 
port them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present 
circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and 
liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience 
and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, 
that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from 
another ; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for 
whatever it may accept under that character ; that, by such accept¬ 
ance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equiva¬ 
lents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingra¬ 
titude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to 
expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an 
illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought 
to discard. 

In offering to 5 'ou, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and 
affectionate friend, I dare not hoite they will make the strong and 
lasting impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual 
current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the 
course, which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if 
I may even flatter myself, that they may be productiA'e of some 
partial benefit, some occasional good ; that they may now and then 
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mis¬ 
chiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pre¬ 
tended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the 
solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided 
by the principles which have been delineated, the public records 
and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the 
w'orld. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I 
have at least believed myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation 
of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my Plan. Sanctioned by 
3 'our apjiroving voice, and by that of your Representatives in both 
Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually go¬ 
verned me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or diA^ert me 
from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I 
could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the 
circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in 
duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I 
determined as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with 
moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 

The considerations, which respect the right to hold this conduct, 
it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, 
that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far 
from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been vir¬ 
tually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without 
anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity 
impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to main¬ 
tain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other na¬ 
tions. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will besS 



36 


Washington’s farewell address. 


be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a 
predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our coun¬ 
try to settle and mature its j^et recent institutions, and to progress 
without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, 
which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of 
its own fortunes. 

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am 
unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of 
my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed 
many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Al¬ 
mighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I 
shall also carry wth me the hope, that my Country will never cease 
to view them with indulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of 
my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of 
incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must 
soon be to the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated 
by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who 
views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for sev¬ 
eral generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that re¬ 
treat, in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the 
sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, 
the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the 
ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, 
of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

United States, September nth, 1796. 



